below: ‘The Encompassing’ by street artist Javid (aka JAH) stands in one of the reflecting pools between the Ismaili Centre and the Aga Khan Museum. This is one of a number of pieces on display. Each is painted on reclaimed corrugated metal. They are an examination of the geometry in Islamic patterns and architecture. His work will remain on display until the 31st of October.

below: On the other side of the above painting, is this one – “Beyond”, also by Javid. The Ismaili Centre is in the background with its large pale blue dome over the prayer room.

below: The large wood beams that cover the entrance to the Ismaili Centre were being re-stained this morning.

The Toronto Ismaili Centre is one of 6 around the world. It was designed by Indian architect Charles Correa and opened in 2014. If you go on the tour of the inside of the Ismaili Centre, you will see a building that is filled with natural light, as well as natural woods and stone.

below: A calligraphy based medallion made of stone is on a white wall. The Arabic word ‘allah’ is in the center and surrounding it are the ninety nine attributes of God, written in Arabic.

below: A closer look at the wall. It took two men, a father and son, fourteen months to carve the design into this wall and a matching wall on the other side of the room. They worked six days a week . The arabesque design was penciled on using a stencil and then carved by hand.

below: A second medallion is on a wall across the room from the one above (on the other wall that was carved).

Crossing back past the reflecting pools to the Aga Khan Museum….

below: Another Javid Jah painting, this time “The Manifest”. (To the left, you can see a metal sculpture called “Big Heech” ). Like all of Jah’s paintings here, this one is based on geometry. The basic shape here is a pentagon (sacral chakra) and it is seen on the floor. This type of archway is called a muqarna and it is unique to muslim architecture. Here the shape of the indentations in the muqarna are based on the pentagon.

The “Big Heech” is the work of Parviz Tanavoli, made from stainless steel in 2014. It is derived from the Persian word for “nothingness” and it is an important word in Perian Sufism.

“Emperors and Jewels: Treasures of the Indian Court from the Al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait”, is a temporary exhibit at the Aga Khan Museum featuring artworks and historical objects from the treasuries of Mughal emperors. The Mughal Empire ruled most of present day Pakistan and India in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Mughals were Muslim but the majority of the population were Hindu.

below: Part of a larger picture depicting a hunting scene, reproduced and enlarged especially for the exhibit.

below: Three glass bottles

below: Two fish joined to make a circle, a standard. From India, late 18th century. Made from silver. There are many myths and symbols that feature fish. In Hindu tradition, the fish was associated with Brahma and Manu, a progenitor of mankind. In addition, one myth is that a fish was believed to hold up the globe.

below: A portrait of Nawab Bairam Khan, painted around 1710-40, watercolour and gold on paper. He is pictured in profile, sitting alone in his peaceful garden.

below: Knife with jade handle carved in the shape of a horse head and neck.

Another story of changes underway;
more documentation of buildings about to disappear.

On a leafy stretch of Bayview Avenue, there are some buildings that now sit empty. The weeds have taken over the yards, as have large signs advertising the townhouse development that will be built there. Actually the signs are only on one yard, this one:

below: There are curtains in the window but some shingles are missing and the frontyard is overgrown with weeds – 2716 Bayview Avenue, sitting empty. If you drive past it on Bayview you’d probably miss it because of the large trees between the house and the street.

below: Nature takes over very quickly if you let it. The lilies haven’t lost to the thistles yet though.

below: The backyard was very overgrown too. The side door was open but I didn’t go in. The basement appears to be in good shape.

If you go to their website, only 7 townhouses are shown in the drawings while the properties on either side of it (4 in total) are included in the plans as “future development”. If you look at the original application on the City of Toronto website, the whole plan called for 20 townhouses facing Bayview Ave and a single family dwelling facing the street behind. Each townhouse is 4 storeys (including basement level which is half garage and driveway) and 18’9″ wide. The above ground levels are 47′ deep. The site drawings and architectural plans were from June 2017. I am not sure why the discrepancy. It’s not uncommon for changes to occur between the planning stage and the final product… So take the measurements that I just gave you with a grain of salt.

below: One house to the south, 2710 Bayview. A newer style house than its neighbour with part of its front yard hidden behind a glass block wall. It too is set back a large distance from the street. Once upon a time, someone put some love and care into this house. I hoped that it was well used in its time.

below: Moving north, this is 2720 Bayview. There is evidence that large trees have already been cut down. At the moment all the evidence is well hidden from passers-by. A year ago, farther south on Bayview a developer cut down 30+ large trees without permits from the city because they were building townhouses on the site The outcry was big but the penalty is small.

below: But…. if you have permission to build townhouses, there is no way the trees can stay. Any plan that involves creating 20 new townhouses in less space than four single houses doesn’t leave room for large trees. Those will be a thing of the past on this stretch of Bayview. The one below was so big that I couldn’t reach around the trunk of the tree.

below: The fourth building, 2722 Bayview, was originally built as a residence, but it has been a medical clinic for decades. If you peer in the window, there are still posters on the wall (Is It Flu?) and even reading material on the table ([something] Task Force). There is a sign on the front door that says that 2 June 2017 was the last day the clinic was open.

Lastly, I took a picture of this house too as it is beside the ones above. The “Notice” sign on the fence was a bit of a surprise considering how new the house was. My original assumption was that the house was going to be demolished. In fact, the planning application says that the house will be moved to the back of the property and three townhouses will be built in front. One driveway down the north side of the property will access both the new townhouses and the moved house.

Apparently the application was submitted in December 2016 – However, I noticed that the original application called for three 3 storey townhouses (and is on the City of Toronto website as such). The sign says three 4 storey townhouses and a three storey single family dwelling. The house in the photo is only 2 storeys.

What I’ve also learned while researching these properties, is that there is an official document called, “Bayview Townhouse Design Guidelines” that covers Bayview Avenue from the 401 south to Lawrence Avenue East. It was adopted by City Council late in 2015. In fact, large portions of the city have design guidelines and you can find them online.

I was curious to find out how many ongoing development proposals/applications there are in the city. There is an interactive searchable map online that I used. When I searched on ward 25 (where the above sites are), it showed 52 locations. When I tried searching on the whole city, there were too many results. If you’re interested in development, you can play with the website too!

This blog post is part of my continuing fascination with walls and the other things that you see on walls such as windows, shadows, pipes, bars, and other architectural details. I like to look at how the elements interact visually and how they come together to form compositions. Sometimes they tell a story and other times they are just an abstract picture. Here are a few that I have collected over the past few months. The first one in the group is a photo that I took this morning; it was the prompt that led to this post.

below: the contrast of red, black, and right angled yellow

below: blue from the inside, shadows on the outside

below: yellow pipe, orange concrete

below: a window seat

below: frosted reflections

below: from a different angle, still a wall

below: nailed links where the hinge once was

below: aging shingles and plywood

below: yellow people and books above and dandelion specks of yellow below

below: dollar signs in the winter

below: cracked and peeling

below: vertical reflections, horizontal grooves

below: open days a week and empty frames

below: painted square shining in the sun

below: At 972 and 972A, a hidden doorway and a trophy in the window.

below: rectangles, diamonds, and trapezoids

below: a deep red curtain and a few exposed bricks

below: The last few pictures are of this wall and the ghost remains of a house that once stood beside it.

Monday’s walk was a meandering route downtown, once again going where my feet and eyes take me. No particular plan in mind and no set destination… just trying to explore where I haven’t been recently. No theme jumped out and tapped me on the shoulder but a few “stories” emerged.

below: There is now a 3D sign between the CN Tower and the Aquarium that says Canada 150.

below: …and another 3D sign by the CN Tower (you can see part of the back of the Canada 150 sign through the tree). I wonder how many there are in this city now? Another bit of information (trivia?) – this area is called Bobbie Rosenfeld Park and has been since 1991. Fanny (“Bobbie”) Rosenfeld was a Canadian athlete who won two track medals in the 1928 Olympics. She also played softball and hockey in the 1920s and 30s. When arthritis force her to stop playing she turned to sports journalism, working for the ‘Globe and Mail’ until her retirement in 1955.

One of the routes from the CN Tower into the downtown core of the city is via the Skywalk, a glass enclosed elevated walkway over the railway tracks. The next few photos were taken as I walked that route.

below: A Toronto species of woodpecker in its native habitat – a forest of glass and steel. This artwork was completed in 1997 and is the creation of Dai Skuse and Kim Kozzi who together are known as Fastwurms.

below: The above photo was taken from a quiet little terrace that I accessed from the Skywalk. Now you can see just how big the woodpecker is! The ‘tree trunk’ pole is 30m high. What you can’t see is the second woodpecker who is on the other side of the pole and slightly farther down it.

below: The glass of the Skywalk creates some interesting reflections and shadows. The glass was fairly clean the other day when I walked through it. I have seen it when it’s been quite dirty and it’s not a pretty sight.

below: Union Station, looking east from the Skywalk. The new roof over the station platforms is taking shape. Someday soon I’m going to have to take a look at the insides of the station; I can’t wait for all the renovations to be completed.

below: Part of the south “wall” along the railway tracks.

below: Looking east from lower Simcoe along the south edge of the Gardiner Expressway. The podium of the new condo under construction at 10 York Street is quite the wedge!

below: I played a bit on google maps street view and this is what I found for the above scene (taken Nov 2016). If you compare the photos (above & below), it’s obvious that one of the ramps for the Gardiner Expressway has been demolished. The eastbound exit to Yonge/York/Bay was removed a couple of months ago. If you are a regular user of the Gardiner, I’m sure you have already experienced the consequences of this!

below: Standing on the same spot, but turning around 180 degrees – looking west from Lower Simcoe. An old ramp in the foreground…. and what looks like new construction in the background. Those are new bents (the structures that hold up the road).

below: To get a closer look at what was happening here, I ventured around to the other side . This is the view from closer to Rees Street. There is car on the old ramp so it must still be open (onramps still functional, just the offramp was removed).

below: The trees are growing at Canada Square (Harbourfront), but so are the condos. Yes, this new building is the same one with the wedge shaped lower floors.

below: Also at Canada Square, there are three large photographs by Johan Hallberg-Campbell, a series called “Coastal”. This one of them:

below: More of Hallberg-Campbell’s work can be seen inside in the Artport Gallery (Harbourfront building) – here, many photographs with simple wood frames are mounted on a wall that is covered with large images. “Coastal” is the product of the artist’s travels to coastal areas of Canada, from Newfoundland to northern Manitoba to British Columbia and many places in between. Life on the edge, so to speak. (Note: gallery show ends 18th June)

below: It’s not art but sometimes the line between public art and advertising campaigns is fuzzy.

I was away for most of the month of May so I missed a lot of the annual Contact Photography Festival. In the few days that I had to catch up, I visited a few of the exhibits. One of these was ‘Nous ne somme pas des heros’ (We are not heroes) by Valerie Blass at the Allen Lambert Galleria in Brookfield Place.

Blass arranged people in sculpture-like poses and then photographed them from different angles. The photographs were then cut into sections, glued on blocks, and then the ‘sculptures’ were re-assembled.

The subjects of the sculptures are anonymous. Their “bodies fold inward, their differences intertwine and merge into single entities” (source).